Afghan Leader, Baltimore Restaurateur

Qayum Karzai Seeks the Best in His Native Land and Adopted Home

BALTIMORE—After ending his presidential campaign in Afghanistan, Qayum Karzai returned here last month to his other life: worrying about the price of striped-bass tapas.

Like many Afghan leaders, Mr. Karzai keeps a foot in another world—in his case, a mini restaurant empire in Baltimore. Even while running a campaign half a world away, he weighed in on menu changes, leases and customer complaints.